Best PlacesDownsville, WI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downsville, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Downsville ranks 9,363rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Downsville
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Downsville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downsville ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 80% of towns
- Household income$91,963 median, better than 79% of towns
Where Downsville ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 15% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 26% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Downsville
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downsville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,963, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Downsville's effective rate of 1.16%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Downsville
Downsville's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Downsville.
Who works in Downsville, and how
Work in Downsville centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Downsville
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Downsville.
What the weather is like in Downsville, month by month
Downsville sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 58° | 48° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Downsville
The nearest airport, Chippewa Valley Regional, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 63 miles away.
The best schools in and around Downsville
Schools across Downsville average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wakanda ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Tiffany Creek ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Downsville ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Menomonie MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Boyceville MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Menomonie HighB− · 43% proficient
- Boyceville HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downsville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downsville measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Downsville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Downsville
Is Downsville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downsville ranks 9,363rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, cheap car insurance, and low crime, and lowest on civic engagement and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Downsville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $231,578. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $91,963 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is Downsville safe?
Yes, Downsville is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $184 per resident a year.
Compare Downsville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downsville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downsville represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Downsville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downsville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downsville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downsville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downsville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downsville detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.